1. Field
The following description relates to a deflecting device for electromagnetic radiation.
2. Description of Related Art
Problems associated with a change of a vector of a wave propagation are often arising in systems using a directional electromagnetic radiation. Solutions may include systems based on a reorientation of a radiating antenna. However, a set of their mechanical elements cannot be miniaturized in a degree demanded by the development of modern microelectronics.
In a range of super high frequencies (SHF), a radiating antenna can have a small dimension, but a rotating (deflecting) device on a mechanical basis limits the possibility of reduction of an overall dimension of an SHF device with a changeable radiation pattern. To solve this problem a device providing a deflection of an electromagnetic wave passing through it, may be used. This device consists two active layers of a ferroelectric material, each of which has two parallel surfaces. A planar wave falls on one of the two parallel surfaces. A first active layer is disposed over a second active layer, and both of the first and second active layers have identical dimensions. A conducting plate of titanium oxide is disposed between the first and the second active layers and has mechanical contact to the first and second active layers without air gaps. The conducting plate functions as an electrode to ground. Electrodes of indium oxide, in the form of strip conductors, are spread on top and bottom surfaces of the multilayered structure, and are mutually perpendicular. A dielectric film is spread over the top and bottom electrodes to limit contact (matching) of the structure with an environment.
However, the radiating antenna and the deflection device that are described above have a number of drawbacks. They have a high value of thermal energy, emanating in high resistive layers when a control voltage is applied. Also, the above solutions suffer from a high level of SHF losses, and may need to use a minimum of two active layers for a 2-D scanning regime that leads to complexity in production and an increase of the SHF losses. Even further, the radiating antenna and the deflection device that are described above may need a difficult scheme of applying control voltages.